: My first question is
: should I cut hatches in my NH. I think I will only use it for day trips. I
: don't yet know how to roll but hope to learn and imagine plenty of wet
: exits as I learn. What are some of the pros and cons and what have some of
: my fellow NH builders done?

I was where you are about a month ago (and with a Night Heron, too). My inclination was to skip the hatches and go for an unbroken deck, but this is my first boat - I put them in - I'm glad I did. Having the hatches cut out made it almost effortless to tape the interior seams (I hot glued the tape in place ahead of time). As I was taping I kept thinking of how much harder it would have been without the hatches in place, perhaps not so for a more experienced builder but definitely so for me. Also (in terms of rolling) I think it'll be a lot easier to dry out the ends after a wet exit with hatches as opposed to air-bags (which I'm assuming would keep the moisture in unless you remove them).

For the hatch lip I used pre-cut plywood lip and spacer as supplied by Newfound Woodworks. It worked out nicely. I'm holding it down with straps (not as elegant as magnets). BTW, the boat gets wet tomorrow evening - I'll post some pictures after.

Good luck - I hope to meet you at the Newfound Rendevous this fall.